More than ever private jet travelers, or elite travelers as we like to call them, are the most lucrative market for luxury brands and service providers. With readers spending $10,000 per hour to fly privately, the over 600,000 readers Elite Traveler reaches each issue provide you a great way to make sure your message is in front of consumers who have the money to be good customers. With our Asia Edition, Elite Traveler Superyachts, our over 60 Elite Traveler Destination Guides at Elitetraveler.com, our global database of private jet owners and our award-winning custom marketing team, we would welcome the opportunity to be of help to you in making sure you get a bigger share of our reader spending.

With a Net Worth of more than $40 trillion, I hope you will agree elite travelers should be a key target for your marketing!

Follow Doug Gollan on Twitter: https://twitter.com/EliteTravelerDG

In This Edition:

1. How You Can Capitalize on Elite Traveler’s 2014 Top Restaurants

2. NetJets Launches “The Challenger 350 Tour”

3. House Hunters Want Luxury For Less

4. Media: Facebook Founder Lives Humble Life

 

1. How you can Capitalize on Elite Traveler’s 2014 Top 100 Restaurants

We live in Food World. From street trucks to the finest of fine dining, the world has become filled with food fanatics. Last year, one reader of Elite Traveler flew privately from China to Chicago (to eat in now three time #1 ranked Alinea), New York. London and Paris using the Elite Traveler Top 100 Restaurants issue as his guide!

Last week we launched the 2014 list with worldwide coverage including NBC, CBS, The Huffington Post, The Drudge Report, The Times of London, and media from over 25 countries around the world. In fact in a single day we had over 125,000 unique visitors to our website (we typically get about 250,000 per month, which is about twice what Robb Report or Departures get in the same period).

Our May/June issue (out the first week of May) will feature the Top 100 in print with some new fresh information. The section has a late advertising close of April 14, so take advantage of an issue and coverage that will be turning around private jets in the air. It’s a great opportunity to get in on the party! Call your sales rep, or email us at sales@elitetraveler.com.

The Average Household Income to be in the Top 1% is $1,264,065—and one needs a minimum Household Income of $400,000; since 2008 the 1% have captured 95% of all income gains, according to The New York Times… Is your media plan reaching consumers who are heavy users of luxury?

2. NetJets Launches “The Challenger 350 Tour”

Last year was the second best year in history for the delivery of new private jets based on revenue – over $23 billion!

The Bombardier Challenger 350 jet boasts class-defining performance, 3,780 sm (6,083km) range and will connect New York to Los Angeles and San Francisco to Maui. It features a state-of-the-art cabin that maximizes natural light and redefines the man-machine interface, according to a NetJets press release.

“The Challenger 350 is a cutting-edge aircraft that will change the super midsize jet market,” said NetJets Senior Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Service Adam Johnson, “and we are thrilled to be adding up to 200 to our fleet. All of our new jets are part of our Signature Series of aircraft, which are custom designed and built exclusively for NetJets.”

Much like trunk shows in the fashion and jewelry segments, NetJets is taking the new goods on the road. Showing the diversity of demand for private jets (i.e. – it’s not just the coasts) cities included in the tour are: San Jose, CA; Santa Monica, CA; Santa Ana, CA; Scottsdale, AZ; West Palm Beach, FL; St. Louis, MO; Houston, TX; Dallas, TX; Nashville, TN; Atlanta, GA; Omaha, NE; Seattle, WA; Denver, CO; Chicago, IL; Minneapolis, MN; Indianapolis, IN; Detroit, MI; Bermuda; Washington D.C.; Teterboro, NJ; White Plains, NY; and Bedford, MA

“Elite Traveler is a key media source for us with well over $200,000 in sales we can track directly back to our ads in your magazine over the past year.” – Charles Krypell, Owner, Charles Krypell

3. House Hunters Want Luxury For Less…

Earlier this year I penned a piece for Luxury Society titled, “Could Luxury for Less Threaten Market Share for True Luxury?”

Recently the Tampa Herald Tribune showed how mainstream lifestyle media that shows consumers how to get the look for less is impacting the Shelter category. The story noted, “Maybe we’ve all been watching too much Home & Garden Television lately. Shows such as “House Hunters,” “Love It or List It” and “Property Brothers” have given couch potatoes (or “sofa social scientists,” as we in lifestyle trade like to say) the impression that luxury amenities, such as granite and marble, stainless steel, deep crown moldings, paver driveways, hardwood floors, chandeliers and such, ought to be available to the home buyer with a budget of less than $300,000.”

“And guess what? They are. Home builders are responding to the aspirational expectations of both first-time and veteran buyers who want sophisticated touches that make them feel richer than they are.” The article showed how homebuilders are creating luxurious interiors and exteriors for less. While there is nothing wrong with it, I think it is a strong lesson that marketers of true luxury products need to target their aim to consumer groups who both want their products and can afford them, and in media that reach this target. Otherwise the outcome is you are spending your marketing dollars to inspire an aspirational consumer to rip out your ad, take it to a discounter and say, “give me this.”

“From the Summer Edition of Elite Traveler Superyachts, as well as the Asia Edition including the May/June issue we are happy to report sales ($437,000) of the timekeepers we advertised” – Patrik Hoffmann, CEO Ulysse Nardin

4. Media: Facebook Founder Lives Humble Life…

First of all, let me say I admire Mark Zuckerberg and what he has accomplished. As with any public figure, unless you are living in that person’s shoes it’s hard to ascertain what type of lifestyle they really have. In fact many rich people spend time and resources to craft a public image which may or may not represent how they live their lives when not in the spotlight.

Before filing the documents about Facebook’s public offering I would sometimes have Zuckerberg thrown out to me as a very rich person who flies economy class. The message was something along the lines – rich people don’t spend their money; aspirational consumers charge up their credit cards, hence that’s why we advertise $25,000 earrings and watches in magazines where 99 percent of the audience is scraping to get buy.

By the way, I never say all super rich folks are lavish spenders. I only say they have the potential to be vis a vis Mass Affluent consumers (Under $400,000 Household Income). Our research has found private jet usage is a good barometer that when properly motivated, the rich person will spend money. After all, flying privately is an emotional decision, as Warren Buffett has made clear.

While I “knew” Facebook was spending lots of money chartering private jets, the mainstream media, when profiling Zuckerberg, would mention his adoration for sardine class in an off-hand type way. Anyway, when Facebook filed its IPO papers it came out that multiple millions per year were spent on private jet flying for himself and his CEO.

Interestingly, there is a new wave of articles out on Zuckerberg noting despite the IPO and being worth billions, not just on paper but in his bank account, he is still a regular guy.

With a few chuckles from Yahoo News, “Facebook (FB) CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, may be among the richest people on the planet but (at least so far) they’ve stayed away from buying mega yachts, desert islands and other trappings of the ultra rich.”

“According to a Facebook filing this week, Zuckerberg pulled the trigger on some 60 million shares worth of options at the end of last year, netting a profit of about $3.3 billion…After paying capital gains taxes, what might Zuckerberg and Chan do next?”

“Despite the occasional wild speculation – $90 million for the penthouse of towering New York City skyscraper One57, anyone? – the Zuckerbergs haven’t gone in for much conspicuous consumption.”

“The Zuckerbergs own two pieces of property in the Bay area. They paid $7 million in 2011 for a beautiful 5,000-square-foot house in the Crescent Park neighborhood of Palo Alto, the same area where Steve Jobs once lived. The couple did buy four surrounding properties for another $30 million over the next two years, but it wasn’t with the idea of building a huge compound, or even displacing their current neighbors a bit. Rather, the move reportedly was made to thwart a developer who wanted to buy some of the next door houses as tear downs, pitching a mega manse with Zuck’s proximity as a potential perk. After buying the surrounding homes, Zuckerberg rented them back to the residents.

The couple also paid $10 million for a San Francisco house in the Noe Valley neighborhood. It’s undergoing a massive renovation.”

Gee whiz, $47 million for two pieces of real estate is just like the next guy. Again, power to “Zuck” and putting money into the economy.

All the best,

Douglas D. Gollan Group President and Editor-in-Chief Elite Traveler, the private jet lifestyle magazine Elite Traveler Superyachts, the superyacht lifestyle magazine Elite Traveler Asia, Asia’s private jet lifestyle magazine Elitetraveler.com, the private jet lifestyle online Elite Traveler Update, our weekly e-Newsletter to private jet owners worldwide

Elite Traveler (audited by BPA Worldwide) is the only audited publication delivered to global locations for private jet travelers. We have global distribution in over 100 countries aboard private jets and in private jet terminals. Each issue is read by over 630,000 Ultra Affluent consumers with an Average Household Income of $5.3 million (Source: Prince & Associates, 2011)

www.elitetraveler.com/business

Doug.Gollan@elitetraveler.com Elite Traveler Magazine 708 Third Avenue, 10th Floor New York, NY 10017 USA